Assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy 2014–2020 in Supporting Agroecological Transitions: A Comparative Study of 15 Cases across Europe

Quero, Alba Linares; Yoldi, Uxue Iragui; Gava, Oriana; Schwarz, Gérald; Povellato, Andrea; Astrain, Carlos

doi:10.3390/su14159261

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The results further indicate that easy access to markets and the availability of alternative channels to sell their products directly to customers (direct marketing) enables closeness between farmers and buyers and leads to higher profitability, encouraging them to adopt CSA [44,89]. Short supply chains are mostly viewed as enablers of the adoption of CSA practices as they reduce dependence on intermediaries and increase control over price setting [44,89].…”

Section: Systemic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Finally, bureaucratic procedures, such as those involved in the provision of subsidies and certifications, create a burden for farmers. Resources, in terms of time and effort, as well as skills and knowledge of the procedures required to complete the paperwork, highlight the negative role that bureaucracy has in the adoption of CSA practices [44,89,96]. Table 9 summarizes findings for policy factors affecting the adoption of CSA.…”

Section: Policy Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ Transition to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the Decision-Making Factors Affecting Adoption

Gemtou,

Kakkavou,

Anastasiou

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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Agriculture is currently facing major challenges related to ensuring the food security of a rising population and climate change with extreme weather patterns. At the same time, agriculture is a cause of environmental degradation, pollution and biodiversity loss. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is proposed as an approach that provides a roadmap to sustainable agricultural development. Despite this, farmer adoption rates of CSA practices and technologies in Europe remain low. This paper seeks to systematically review and synthesize the factors that facilitate or hinder farmers’ uptake of CSA in Europe. Out of the 2827 articles identified in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, a total of 137 research articles were included for analysis following the PRISMA methodology. The factors are categorized into seven categories, namely socio-demographics, psychological, farm characteristics, practice/technology-related attributes, biotic/abiotic, systemic and policy factors, with the majority of the studies focusing on the first four categories, while systemic and policy factors are relatively understudied. The results highlight for the first time that the adoption of CSA does not depend solely on farmer characteristics but also on the food systems and structures in which farmers operate, as well as the interactions with other value chain actors. To promote the adoption of CSA practices, extension and advisory services along with access to timely and reliable information, play a vital role in increasing awareness and in the provision of training and the encouragement of farmers’ behavioral shifts towards sustainable practices. From a technological point of view, adapting technologies to be easy to use, compatible with current farming objectives and cost-efficient will render them less risky investments for farmers and will foster adoption rates. Finally, support from the government in terms of financial support, subsidies and reduced bureaucratic procedures is crucial for motivating CSA adoption.

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Section: Systemic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Policy Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers’ Transition to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the Decision-Making Factors Affecting Adoption

Gemtou,

Kakkavou,

Anastasiou

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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“…Instruments assessed as most effective are Agro‐environmental Measures; Organic Farming; Farm Modernisation and Investment; Advice, Information and Training; and, within food policies, measures that support public procurement of organic products for public canteens. CAP Pillar I is important in ensuring the viability of farming with a more ecological emphasis, linking direct payments to greening rules and cross‐compliance, but with mechanisms which are insufficient to encourage agroecological transitions (Gava et al ., this issue; Linares Quero et al ., 2022).…”

Section: Transitions To Agroecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating Conditions for Harnessing the Potential of Transitions to Agroecology in Europe and Requirements for Policy

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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SummaryFood systems require reorientation to take greater account of interactions with the environment, economy, health and society. Transitions to agroecological farming practices and systems can connect policy areas and realise environmental, economic and social aims. These transitions provide a lens for reviewing policy, practice and behaviours of actors in farming systems and value chains, identification of barriers to uptake, and policy areas to which they contribute or where there are gaps. Developing social and human capital, and governance structures that enable transitions to agroecology are key to their prospects of success. Education and life‐long learning are key to developing the knowledge and skills of younger generations of land managers and other actors in value chains, throughout their careers. The outcome sought is for a shared understanding of the benefits of agroecological practices and systems, creating opportunities to rebalance policies towards delivering climate neutrality, reversing biodiversity loss, and enhancing rights of citizens. To realise those opportunities policies and strategies should be coherent across territorial and systems levels, and tailored to place, system, people, and stages of transitions. Overall, they should be designed to ensure all citizens are beneficiaries of transitions to agroecological farming systems, over the long term, and that no‐one or place is disadvantaged by the processes of change or the outcome intended.

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“…An inventory of policy instruments was created at the case study level through a literature review (Zilans et al, 2019) and workshops with a variety of actors (Linares Quero et al, 2022). The instruments were classified under eight policy areas, based on their key purpose (Table 1) (Galioto et al, 2021).…”

Section: Participatory Inventory Of Policy Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The following paragraphs synthesise and integrate the findings of each research step. Box 1 presents the essential research methods; more detailed information about methods, data and case-study specific findings are available from Galioto et al (2021), Linares Quero et al (2022, Schwarz et al (2021) and Zilans et al (2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

Policy Instruments to Support Agroecological Transitions in Europe

Gava¹,

Povellato²,

Francesco³

et al. 2022

EuroChoices

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Summary Agroecological transitions have the potential to deliver multiple environmental and social benefits. However socio‐economic barriers have prevented those transitions in many European contexts. This article aims to inform policymakers about policy instruments that can foster agroecological transitions in Europe, especially by removing key socio‐economic barriers. A multi‐step methodology was carried out over a two‐year period in 15 case studies across Europe. The case studies represent farming systems that are in the process of initiating or enhancing the transition. Data collection relied on a participatory process, involving a variety of transdisciplinary actors. Study findings identify three major themes of barriers to agroecological transitions, namely actor capacity, value chain and policy. To address these barriers, policy instruments should consider the farming system’s stage in the transition pathway to take account of the different priorities of local actors. At the stage of initiating the transition, removing the barriers requires improvements in knowledge delivery mechanisms by strengthening advisory services and reducing decision‐makers’ uncertainty. At the stage of enhancing the transition, a focus on social capital is needed, for example by strengthening networking and cooperation measures. Generally, more attention towards state interventions which support the transitions to agroecology is needed, such as developing new voluntary agroecology certification schemes and public procurement initiatives.

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Assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy 2014–2020 in Supporting Agroecological Transitions: A Comparative Study of 15 Cases across Europe

Cited by 15 publications

References 40 publications

Farmers’ Transition to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the Decision-Making Factors Affecting Adoption

Farmers’ Transition to Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the Decision-Making Factors Affecting Adoption

Creating Conditions for Harnessing the Potential of Transitions to Agroecology in Europe and Requirements for Policy

Policy Instruments to Support Agroecological Transitions in Europe

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